Gilbert Vanderwerken
Gilbert Vanderwerken (5 February 1810 – 22 January 1894), originally from Albany, New York, was most notably recognized for introducing the omnibus, an urban version of the stagecoach, in Newark, New Jersey, in 1826.
With the bankruptcy of the first omnibus line in 1837 because of the national depression of that year, Vanderwerken relocated to Washington, D.C., between 1848 and 1850 to take personal control of Washington’s first successful omnibus line. The Vanderwerken Company line, closely following the horse-drawn coach routes of the early 19th century, traveled from Georgetown to the Navy Yard via M Street and Pennsylvania Avenue for a one-way fare of 12.5 cents. The omnibus, seating twelve passengers, bore the names of persons, historical events, or pictures of other fashionable modes of transportation on the side panels. The stables were located in a former tobacco warehouse at 3222 M Street in Georgetown. The Washington and Georgetown Railroad leased the omnibus line on July 1, 1862, and soon replaced it, donating the vehicles to the Army Medical Department.
Living in Washington, D.C., Vanderwerken purchased 1,316 acres (5.33 km2) of Virginia property as pastureland for the horses. About 1852, Vanderwerken improved the farm by having a dwelling erected on "a hilltop in a grove of fine oak trees at the northwest corner of Little Falls and Glebe Roads." The dwelling was intended to be used as rental housing and as a summer retreat for the family. On his property, he also established a quarry business, the Potomac Blue Stone Company. The stone blasted from the palisades was used to build Healy Hall of Georgetown University and St. Elizabeths Hospital.
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